It is increasingly desirable, particularly in the field of commercial building construction, to provide wall panels in the form of modular members. These wall panels are typically rectangular in outline. The panels have structural vertical members at each end that are generally joined by bolts or other fasteners to adjoining vertical members. In addition, several horizontal members can be used to join the main structural vertical members, and to form the floor plate and ceiling member for the panel. In one example, the panels are approximately 10 feet tall (vertically) and up to 20 feet or more in length (horizontally). Heights exceeding 50 feet have been constructed. A system for joining modular panels is taught in co-pending U.S. Pat. application Ser. No. 09/046,758 filed Mar. 24, 1998. This application describes, generally, the joining of panels using shims between adjoining structural vertical members to provide expansion joints between panels. This application is expressly incorporated herein by reference. The panels described in this co-pending application, and herein, can include those produced by Canam Manac of Canada under the trademark MUROX.TM..
It is increasingly desirable to construct as much of a wall panel as possible before it is assembled and placed at a building site. Insulation, exterior skin, interior skins and even utilities can be effectively provided to panels before they are assembled. Appropriate access holes are generally provided in each panel to enable the insertion and securing of bolts and for other finish work.
In the past, insulation has been provided to panels in the form of foam or fiber board laid directly over the vertical and horizontal members of the panel. The foam board is secured using metal fasteners or other devices. Alternatively, insulation is simply provided between vertical and horizontal members and an outer skin is secured directly to the vertical and horizontal members. In both instances, heat is conducted from the outer skin to the metal vertical and horizontal members. This occurs either because there is no appreciable insulation between the outer skin and the members, or because the metal fasteners transmit heat between the members and the outer skin. The transmission of heat can result in the formation of a "dew point" at the junction between the skin an the panels. This is particularly problematic in cold climates since, over time, condensation can cause rusting and failure of fasteners and metal members. Accordingly, it is desirable to separate the outer skin from all structural members by a substantial amount of insulation. It is also desirable to avoid highly conductive fasteners that would transmit heat between the metal members and the outer skin. In this way, dew point is moved completely to the outer skin where it is best handled by weather-resistant materials applied thereto.
It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide an outer skin and insulation system for modular panels that avoids problems associated with localized dew point. It is a further observation of this invention to provide a method for rapidly and effectively applying insulation between the outer skin and the structural members of a modular building panel.